Boys Prep Wrestling Roundup: Twin Harbors wrestlers win across southwest Washington

Elma, Hoquiam and Aberdeen grapplers victorious at multiple tournaments

By Ryan Sparks • January 6, 2025 5:30 pm
PHOTO BY SUE MICHALAK BUDSBERG Elma’s Aidyn Johnson (left) throws Castle Rock’s Kacen Hamilton in the 120-pound final of the Jim Bair Invitational on Saturday at Castle Rock High School.
PHOTO BY SUE MICHALAK BUDSBERG Elma’s Aidyn Johnson (left) throws Castle Rock’s Kacen Hamilton in the 120-pound final of the Jim Bair Invitational on Saturday at Castle Rock High School.

Plenty of local Twin Harbors wrestlers stood atop the podium as we review a busy weekend of boys prep wrestling events.

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BOYS PREP WRESTLING

Five locals win at Jim Bair Invitational

Five Twin Harbors wrestlers placed atop the podium of their respective weight classes at the Jim Bair Invitational on Saturday at Castle Rock High School.

Leading the way was the Elma Eagles, who had three weight-class champions and finished second as a team with 138.5 points.

PHOTO BY SUE MICHALAK BUDSBERG Elma’s Xavier Espinosa (top) controls Onalaska’s Benito Escalara during the 126-pound final of the Jim Bair Invitational on Saturday in Castle Rock.

PHOTO BY SUE MICHALAK BUDSBERG Elma’s Xavier Espinosa (top) controls Onalaska’s Benito Escalara during the 126-pound final of the Jim Bair Invitational on Saturday in Castle Rock.

Elma’s Xavier Mendoza defeated Onalaska’s Benito Escalera via 16-1 technical fall to win at 120 pounds.

The Eagles’ Aidyn Johnson defeated Castle Rock’s Kacen Hamilton 4-2 to place atop the podium at 126 pounds.

Elma’s Blaize Salazar pinned Union’s Mason Thompson at 1:57 to win the 144-pound championship.

PHOTO BY SUE MICHALAK BUDSBERG Hoquiam’s Kingston Case (top) gains position over Black Hills’ Porter Neklason in the 150-pound final of the Jim Bair Invitational on Saturday at Castle Rock High School.

PHOTO BY SUE MICHALAK BUDSBERG Hoquiam’s Kingston Case (top) gains position over Black Hills’ Porter Neklason in the 150-pound final of the Jim Bair Invitational on Saturday at Castle Rock High School.

Hoquiam had two weight-class winners to place 10th overall in the 18-team tournament.

Grizzlies senior Kingston Case defeated Black Hills’ Porter Neklason 7-0 to win at 150 pounds with teammate Oliver Bryson pinning Eatonville’s Ethan Rogers at the 2:25 mark of the 190-pound final.

Full results available at trackwrestling.com.

PHOTO BY SUE MICHALAK BUDSBERG Hoquiam’s Oliver Bryson (top) grapples with Eatonville’s Ethan Roger during the 190-pound final of the Jim Bair Invitational on Saturday in Castle Rock.

PHOTO BY SUE MICHALAK BUDSBERG Hoquiam’s Oliver Bryson (top) grapples with Eatonville’s Ethan Roger during the 190-pound final of the Jim Bair Invitational on Saturday in Castle Rock.

Team standings

1, Black Hills,143. 2, Elma, 138.5. 3, Union, 136. 4, Castle Rock, 131. 5, Mark Morris, 103. 6, Seton Catholic, 95.5. 7, Eatonville, 95. 8, Rainier, 87.5. 9, La Center, 86. 10, Hoquiam, 68.5. 11, Columbia-White Salmon, 57. 12, Washougal, 56.5. 13, Stevenson, 52.5. 14, Ilwaco, 50. 15, Kalama, 46. 16, Onalaska, 43. 17, Tenino, 15.5. 18, Adna, 15.

Local podium placements

106: 2, Jordan Meadows, Elma.

113: 3, Luis Torres, Elma.

120: 1, Xavier Espinoza, Elma.

126: 1, Aidyn Johnson, Elma.

132: 4, Ben Totten, Elma.

144: 1, Blaize Salazar, Elma.

150: 1, Kingston Case, Hoquiam.

190: 1, Oliver Bryson, Hoquiam.

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Elma takes Bash at the Beach title

The Elma Eagles bested a 12-team field to win the Bash at the Beach Tournament on Saturday at North Beach High School.

The Eagles scored 160 points to place first ahead of North Beach (102 points) and Aberdeen (89.5) and were led by weight-class winners Colin Chandler (113 pounds), Liam McManus (157) and Marcus Jones (215).

North Beach was led by Tycen Ross’ victory at 190 pounds and had five additional wrestlers place second in their respective weight classes.

Aberdeen’s Roman Tadique (120) and Gibran Garcia (126) won their weight classes as did Willapa Harbor’s Connor Reyes (144) and Isaiah Rogers (285).

Ocosta’s Ronin Rutzer won the 138-pound weight class while Logan Rutzer won at 150 pounds.

Montesano also had a weight-class winner on Saturday as Owen Young placed first at 165.

Full results available at trackwrestling.com.

Team standings

1, Elma, 160 points. 2, North Beach, 102. 3, Aberdeen, 89.5. 4, Ocosta, 85.5. 5, Pe Ell, 81. 6, Darrington, 76. 7, Hoquiam, 67. 8, Montesano, 66.5. 9, Willapa Harbor, 59. 10, Winlock, 52. 11, Naselle, 22. 12, Taholah, 8.

Individual podium placements

106 pounds: 1, Nathan Elliott, Darrington. 2, Kinden Tollenaar, Darrington. 3, Brycen Parent, North Beach. 4, Cash Gersitz, North Beach.

113: 1, Colin Chandler, Elma. 2, Mayra Strandberg, North Beach. 3, Hank Cleverly, Montesano. 4, Oscar Silvestre, Winlock.

120: 1, Roman Tadique, Aberdeen. 2, Arthur Moore, Darrington. 3, Cruz Ortiz-Cruz, Hoquiam. 4, Maddox Olson, Elma.

126: 1, Gibran Garcia, Aberdeen. 2, Torrence Bonina, Ocosta. 3, Alex Carlson, Aberdeen. 4, Zeke James, Hoquiam.

132: 1, Harlen Wesson, Darrington. 2, Xavier Sancho-Carrillo, Winlock. 3, Rob Osbun, Elma. 4, Alex Mendoza, Aberdeen.

138: 1, Logan Rutzer, Ocosta. 2, Liam Kunkle, North Beach. 3, Ethan Faulkner, Pe Ell. 4, Cowyn McGrath, Pe Ell.

144: 1, Conner Reyes, Willapa Harbor. 2, Obadiah Richards, North Beach. 3, Bryston Crawford, Elma. 4, Jason Gardner, Naselle.

150: 1, Ronin Rutzer, Ocosta. 2, Sebastian Matsen, Hoquiam. 3, Marc Avila, Aberdeen. 4, Elijah Roberts, Elma.

157: 1, Liam McManus, Elma. 2, Jackson Bucy, Elma. 3, Konnor Pilz, Pe Ell. 4, Ryan Iversen, Montesano.

165: 1, Owen Young, Montesano. 2, Johnathan Henderson, Elma. 3, Blake Burnett, Pe Ell. 4, Liam Boling, Elma.

175: 1, Ethen Noble, Pe Ell. 2, Agustino Ramirez-Diaz, Elma. 3, Sam Mullin, Elma. 4, Kemper Westrick, Ocosta.

190: 1, Tycen Ross, North Beach. 2, Parker George Harmon, North Beach. 3, Isacc Chi, North Beach. 4, Donavyn Kalakosky, Elma.

215: 1, Marcus Jones, Elma. 2, Adin Wollum, North Beach. 3, Alex Dryden, Elma. 4, Memphis Orama, Hoquiam.

285: 1, Isaiah Rogers, Willapa Harbor. 2, Blake Burkett, Winlock. 3, Lucas Delgado, Montesano. 4, Mason Lippincott, Winlock.

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SUBMITTED PHOTO Aberdeen’s boys wrestling team placed first at the Battle of the Axe meet on Saturday at Port Angeles High School.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Aberdeen’s boys wrestling team placed first at the Battle of the Axe meet on Saturday at Port Angeles High School.

Aberdeen wins Battle of the Axe

Aberdeen went unbeaten in five dual meets to win the 13-team Battle of the Axe Tournament on Saturday in Port Angeles.

The Bobcats started the day by winning eight of 14 matches to edge Curtis to win 45-34 then swept all 14 matchups to shutout Kingston 84-0.

In the third round, Aberdeen rolled through East Jefferson 63-18 by going 11-3 in head-to-head matchups to advance to the championship bracket.

The Bobcats then took on Klahowya in the semifinal round and won 47-33.

Ryder Lessard (113 pounds), Ethan Parris (120), Gio Warness (138), Glenny Black (144), Michael Hatton (165), Erick Silveira (175) and Landon Hamblin (285) picked up victories to send Aberdeen to the meet championship against North Thurston.

In the final, Bobcats wrestlers Adan Martinez-De Jesus (132), Adonis Hammonds (144), Black, Hatton, Silveira, Hamblin, Lessard and Jaidon Williams (126) won to give Aberdeen eight victories to six for North Thurston, and a 44-36 victory.

Aberdeen hosts Shelton in a 2A Evergreen Conference meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

Team standings

1, Aberdeen. 2, Curtis. 3, East Jefferson. 4, Forks. 5, JV All Stars. 6, Kingston. 7, Klahowya. 8, North Mason. 9, North Thurston. 10, Olympic. 11, Port Angeles. 12, Sequim. 13, Washington.